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Local activists and politicians came to support the launch of a national anti-gambling organization's new Web site Friday at a two-day conference against legal gambling.
Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot opened the conference, held at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, speaking about the destructive nature of slot machines and their effect on Prince George's County and the state.
Franchot attended to support the organization StopPredatoryGambling.org, established to stop casinos from "preying on human weaknesses." Franchot is on the steering committee of Marylanders United, an organization involved in educating Maryland communities about the consequences of in-state gambling.
To see if there was a pattern for possible gambling addictions within Maryland communities, Franchot asked Maryland stores to compile their lottery sales by county.
The 2003 survey of lottery sales showed Prince George's County has spent $1 billion more in lottery tickets in the last decade than Montgomery County, which is 10 percent larger than Prince George's County, said Marylanders United member James Proctor III of Accokeek.
Proctor said he hopes the conference sent a message that Maryland is not the only place where families are being threatened by possible gambling addictions and personal finance hardships.
While Proctor said he believes that families living within the Capital Beltway and Baltimore City would be at the greatest risk to the introduction of slot machines, he said that gambling can affect anyone, even "affluent families."
During the opening session, his point was illustrated by the speech of a young woman who once had a promising career in law but lost her credibility and savings to gambling.
Aurelia Taveras, a former attorney from New York, said her gambling addiction resulted in the loss of her apartment, her parents' home, nearly $1 million and her "economic, professional and mental sanity."
Taveras filed a $20 million lawsuit against casinos in Las Vegas and New Jersey that is still pending.
The casinos have said Taveras is "guilty of sole and/or contributory negligence," and that negligence was a factor in her personal and financial damages, according to a written document these casinos submitted to the courts.
"[The casinos] knew I had an addiction and used it to their advantage," she said, adding that she still receives advertisements and brochures from the casinos she is suing.
Had it not been for a friend rescuing her after a 21-day gambling spree in Las Vegas, she would be dead, she told the roomful of supporters.
"People like you give me hope," she said while crying.
Taveras said she is glad to know there are organizations out there fighting against gambling, instead of fighting for it.
"I'm glad to know I am not alone," she said, adding that she hopes speaking out will help others who are suffering from an addiction.
"I believe this happened for a reason," Taveras said. "I don't want this to happen to somebody else's kids."
E-mail Megan McKeever at mmckeever@gazette.net.
